Love In Beckett's Molloy and Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea

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man who comes "every week," physically as well. This other man is later revealed in Part II of the novel to be named Moran, a man whom has been pursuing Molloy with as much dedication as Molloy has been pursuing his own mother. The parallels of these two quests highlights how a drive for even a positive form of affection, such as that between a parent and a child, can be just as debilitating in terms of one's freedom as the pursuit of a petty bureaucratic official for a supposed criminal.
As the novel progresses, even the system of communication between the central figure of Molloy and the reader begins to break down. Conventional grammatical structures, even the typical formulation of paragraphing, are eschewed in favor of a stream-of-consciousness style. Molloy's affection, despite his sacrifice of his legs and his liberty to find his mother, hardly seems directed at any human being at all. Rather his consciousness revolves around the passions of his own mind, his own head, ...

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We perceive another human being whom we have hunted, as worthy because of our weakness and loneliness, and thus create a spurious sense of joy in capturing it. Love's weakness keeps us, and 'the other' we desire alive, but in enslavement like animals in zoological gardens. However, even Molloy admits he prefers this enslavement to the terrors of death itself. This is why he stays alive. Yet his imprisonment by Moran seems just as imprisoning as Molloy's supposed love for his mother. Likewise, Moran's fascination with Molloy seems to parallel the parent and child relationship, as outlined by Beckett's schema. Molloy has lost the full range of his motion, namely his ability ...

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